To mark summer solstice, people gathered on Friday at Willowbrook Park in Burlington to do yoga and share what the new season meant to them.

Mary Faucette, Burlington Recreation and Parks special events coordinator, said it was the first time yoga had been done in the park and hoped it would become an annual event marking the first day of summer each year.

Faucette owns Om Shanti Yoga at Huffman Mill Road where she instructs yoga classes. About a dozen people joined Faucette at Willowbrook Park to do yoga. Faucette said she got the idea after watching about 15,000 people do yoga in New York City from 42nd to 47th streets to mark the beginning of summer.

To participate in the event at Willowbrook Park, participants were asked to contribute $5 each or donate food which was given to Loaves and Fishes Christian Food Ministries.

Elon resident Bennie Catoe was among those who participated in the event on Friday afternoon. She started doing yoga in 2010 to help reduce her back pain. Catoe said she had never done yoga outdoors before and that Willowbrook Park was a great setting.

“I hope this becomes an annual event,” Catoe said. “People who don’t do yoga can come and watch and decide if they would like to try it.”

Faucette said she hoped the event would continue to grow each year and believed that the park would be completely filled one day with yoga participants marking the summer solstice.

“It is great to be able to bring this to the park,” Faucette said. “It’s for all ages and all abilities. People can explore what yoga is and try it out.”